Home: Message List - I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

Re: I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

Michael — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:13:01 GMT

Yes I see that you are not blaming any one person. I am in agreement that this could get to be a bigger problem.

Thank you for your reply.

Re: I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

xenopod — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:03:43 GMT

I don't think any of us are laying the blame at any one person. It is more of a matter of a general trend that has been in place and seemingly amplified as of lately. So we are all voicing concern to help find a solution now before it too badly damages the reputation and objective of this forum community.

Re: I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

Michael — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:52:21 GMT

I would also like to state, it might be a good idea, to make the rules when you sign up simplified.

Example: You are asked a set of questions, that will help community members understand what is expected of them, and what will and what will not be tolerated.

I still do not know understand what I can or can not do completely, but I am working hard to be a benefit to the community.

I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this community.

Re: I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

Michael — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:46:02 GMT

Community ~ I have to be careful of this advertising aspect to the community, as I have been known to post like an interstate billboard.

I apologize for this, and will do what I can to stay away from this type of mass posting.

I did not realize this was an issue, but really it makes sense that it would not work with this community.

I have noticed that alot of these types of posts are removed quickly after they are posted.

I will work hard to follow community guidelines.

Thank you, Michael

Re: I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

xenopod — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:16:08 GMT

I think that this is a great idea. Making it a navigational tab level separation from the rest of the forums. That way business classifieds could be broken down into more useful divisions and even allocate a space for the one time posters. This would also justify coming down heavier (in terms of moderation) on people who break from the policy if such well defined efforts were made to accomodate everyone.

Re: I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

Lighthouse24 — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:03:25 GMT

Some people find this site and think, "Great, a new place to interact, learn, and share with substantial number of small business owners." Others find this site and think, "Great, a new place to pitch my product, service, or MLM-scheme to a substantial number of dupes. Of course, legitimate small business owners (and future owners) are not dupes -- so those who arrive here hoping to score quickly are usually disappointed and move on, but someone just like them joins and takes their place.

My real concern is that if a legitimate business owner arrives now and sees that the forums are mainly "pitch" posts (instead of business questions, answers, and discussion), he or she will decide that there is nothing useful here and never return -- and we'll cease to attract knowledgeable new members who could really contribute and help us all. I've written this before, but I'd prefer it if the Business Classifieds were a tab at the top like the Stories and Experts sections rather than a forum category. (It could incorporate Nat's idea of using a member's contributions to determine how many attachments and live links could accompany an ad and where the ad ranked relative to others.) With a separate section designed for self-promotion, maybe we could keep the forum threads more on-topic.

Re: I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

NatOnline — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:07:06 GMT

There is another option to avoid advertising all over the forum and like you said the point of this BoA forum is connection between members.

If it is technically possible, one of the best way, would be to display the member site hyperlinked or just the domain link member under the screen name member. To be authorized and to avoid spam, let say after 50 posts, you can display your company link. So connection would be much easier for members.

It is of course just an idea, this forum is an excellent idea from Bank of America to let connect businesses.

Re: I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

Ed O'Gee — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:58:23 GMT

Luckiest, I know Bank of America doesn't pay SCORE for participation, but are you sure you don't secretly work for the bank? lol!

If you don't they should pay you, you are a great advocate for them.

Re: I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

LUCKIEST — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:37:59 GMT

As I see it, This is an open forum, set up by Bank of America.
Bank of America should be congratulated on this site reaching 100 pages.
You all have been posting great questions, covering a wide variety of topics
including advertising and marketing for some posting.
Lets keep the bar raised high
LUCKIEST

Re: I hope we won't make this forum an Ad forum

Ed O'Gee — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:00:56 GMT

I agree, we don't want things to get out of hand, but at the same time you have to give people a chance to share what they do. Connect is what the site says when you sign in, so if I don't tell folks how I or my business can help them, it is hard to connect.

Now I will admit, so folks go way overboard, we ignore them or the moderators disable their accounts. I've seen users who have had accounts disabled come back on the site and change their behavior.

I don't think this board will ever be advertising free, but we have some great users who post excellent responses to questions and those are the ones I pay attention to, others I ignore.